


23rd's Orientation

by Anonymous



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Comedy, Gossip, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29990118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Honor student Mark Lee's first day at his first job is full of introductions. He has no idea how he is supposed to keep up with 22 men working at a Walmart who all seem to be attached to each other in a way. Oh well, it's only day 1. He'll surely have many shifts to get to know them all.
Kudos: 1
Collections: NCT Walmart Fic Fest R1





	23rd's Orientation

_“The first rule to keep in mind when you’re a new hire is that you must look presentable and work harder than anyone else. Only then will you stand out. And always be on time”_

“I’m working at a Walmart, mom,” Mark sighed as he pulled into the Supercenter’s parking lot. 

_“I am so proud of you, my dear boy with his first job,”_ Mark blushed embarrassed when he heard the sniffles coming from the other side of the line. 

“Mom, don’t cry,” Mark pleaded.

_“Make sure to save your money!”_

“I have to go in now,” Mark announced.

_“I love you dear, have a good first shift!”_

“I love you too, momma. Will call you later,” Mark smiled, hoping his mom could somehow hear it in his voice. He hung up. 

A big goal of his after getting into college was to have a part-time job. He hated the idea of depending on his family for money, especially when most of it was for gas or alcohol. Lucky him and his four year full ride scholarship.

He decided to walk into the store through the grocery doors. He looked around for a bit before recognizing the guy who would be showing him around. They met during his interview, the same interview where he got the offer. _“We’re all like a family,”_ shift lead Doyoung, manager Taeil, and Jaehyun expressed gleefully that day, _“you’ll fit right in!”_

“Hi,” Mark said shyly. Jaehyun smiled brightly at him.

“Glad to see you again! How are you doing? How’s school?”

“It’s alright,” Mark said. “Busy.”

“Okay, let’s start!” Jaehyun completely ignored him. Mark nodded and followed him. “Okay, let’s go say hi to our friends at deli,” Mark made sure to keep up with his pace. He heard the loud grunts coming from behind the counter as an incredibly tall guy chopped some meat. “Hi Johnny!” Jaehyun shouted. This caught the guy’s attention.

“Hi Jaehyun!” Johnny greeted excitedly. He smiled brightly at Mark, “Ah, new guy!”

“I’m Mark,” Mark greeted. He wished he could equal Johnny’s energy and enthusiasm, but it was hard when the other wore an apron full of blood and held a butcher knife. His stomach turned a little.

“We are going to be best friends,” Johnny smiled. 

“Sounds good to me,” Mark replied. _Only when you’re clean, though,_ Mark thought.

“We have to keep going,” Jaehyun nodded at Johnny who smiled at Mark.

“Nice to meet you!”

“Same here,” Mark smiled back. They walked away and he could immediately hear Johnny resuming his work.

“If he sees you around he will ask for a Monster,” Jaehyun began as they walked past the deli towards the bakery counter, “remind him he is limited to a coffee a day. If he insists, tell him he should remember _the incident._ ”

“The incident?” Mark wondered out loud.

“Trust me, you _don’t_ want to know what the incident was. Ah, Ten!” 

“I am busy,” the man on the other side of the counter shouted as he meticulously decorated a cake. Mark took a look at it; just like the boy, the cake was gorgeous. Ten bit his lip, concentrated on the blue lines of frosting he was placing carefully on the sides of the round cake.

“I have a new guy here,” Jaehyun tried again.

“Nice to meet you, come back when I’m not making a cake,” Ten replied. Jaehyun sighed in defeat. Mark found it strange. Funny, but strange. They began to walk away when Jaehyun scratched his head and spoke.

“He will bake whole cakes for Johnny… free of charge. If you see him do it, _please_ tell management. We know it happens but no one will snitch. And he knows where to hide from the security cameras.” 

“Can’t you get more cameras?” Mark questioned. Jaehyun shook his head.

“No, corporate won’t install more cameras for us.”

“Why would he do that?” Mark asked. Jaehyun rolled his eyes and stopped.

“I think you know why,” Jaehyun replied. “Which reminds me… if you ever need something from the back and hear weird noises _do not_ go in. Trust me, you’ll thank me. Whatever it is you might be needing is not good enough for you to be unable to look at people in the eyes.”

“Are you talking about sex?” Mark blurted. He quickly blushed.

“I am, in fact, talking about sex,” Jaehyun chuckled and resumed his walking. Just as they were about to go into the clothing section they were stopped by a customer. She looked extremely upset, followed by her teenage son who was playing on his phone.

“Excuse me, do you work here?” she questioned them. Mark nodded while Jaehyun looked down at his blue vest and then her again, silently wondering if she was serious or if she thought his Walmart vest was a fashion statement. “I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I am disgusted! How dare you be speaking about something so dirty and immoral! This is a family friendly store, you should be ashamed of yourselves! Think of the children that could hear you!” A few customers began to stop around, watching the woman berate them. Mark felt like he was going to throw up.

“I apologize, ma’am, it was not my intention to be offensive,” Jaehyun offered in the most monotone voice Mark had ever heard. He looked around and saw a familiar face. The woman continued calling them names as Doyoung appeared from nowhere. 

“What seems to be the issue here?” he asked. The woman repeated her rant to him, accusing Jaehyun and Mark of being perverts for talking about sex. Doyoung’s face was neutral as she continued but Mark didn’t miss the slight amusement in Doyoung’s eyes as he took a look at the lady’s teenage son. He was her spitting image. “I am so sorry for this inconvenience,” Doyoung expressed, with slightly more emotion than Jaehyun. He shook his hand and Jaehyun grabbed Mark’s arm and pulled him out of the scene.

“You look pale,” Jaehyun mentioned, “are you okay?”

“I don’t like confrontation,” Mark confessed.

“You chose the wrong place to work at, then,” Jaehyun mumbled.

“What?” Mark turned to him.

“What?” Jaehyun replied. “Ah, Kun! Yangyang! Meet our new friend, Mark,” Jaehyun continued his introductions. The two men stood by the dressing room, organizing clothes people had left behind after trying them on.

“We had a woman try bathing suits without wearing her underwear,” Yangyang mentioned, nose scrunched.

“How do you know?” Mark asked, immediately regretting his curiosity as Yangyang showed him the bathing suit with a yellow stain. 

“Nice to meet you!” Kun purred. “Visit us back here often, okay?” Mark nodded. Kun seemed overly enthusiastic. Just like he felt, about 30 minutes prior.

“We are on a tight schedule,” Jaehyun interjected, “I gotta get him around.”

“See you around, Mark!” Yangyang waved. Mark nodded politely and walked away next to Jaehyun.

“Kun will sometimes help customers figure out whole outfits. He is really good. I think he sold his soul to the devil because I have never seen him not be ecstatic to be working here.”

“Um,” Mark started but figured it was best to not say anything. He couldn’t understand how Jaehyun was unable to smell the lingering scent of red wine that came out any time Kun opened his mouth. He seemed to be functional enough, though. 

“Yangyang likes basketball a lot. If you like basketball too, you guys will surely be close friends.” They walked through the baby section and made their way to electronics. Jaehyun knocked on the counter’s glass. No response. He signaled Mark to follow him to walk into the booth. “Meet Taeyong.”

The boy rested his back against the counter and looked extremely focused on his Nintendo Switch. “Hi,” he said quickly, not sparing a look at Mark.

“Taeyong here will hide behind the counter to play videogames all day. I suggest you help any customer around here instead of hoping he’ll help them,” Jaehyun explained Mark. Without looking up, Taeyong quickly flipped Jaehyun off and continued playing his game. “Alright, next up we have paint and home improvement and oh boy…” Jaehyun’s voice drifted.

“Is everything okay?” Mark wondered. Jaehyun snickered as he grabbed Mark by his shoulders.

“Just be prepared. Haechan works in that area. He _will_ flirt with you. You’re skinny and seem like a good boy. He likes that.” Mark frowned and whispered his confusion as he followed Jaehyun. Behind the counter he saw the boy waiting for the paint machine to finish mixing a can. 

Mark had no time to prepare himself, so it took a lot of him to not blush when Haechan finally turned around and stared at him up and down, a soft smile on his lips.

“Now we’re talking,” he told Jaehyun. “You finally understand who to hire now. It was getting tiring being the only handsome employee in this hellhole.”

“Haechan, please,” Jaehyun sighed.

“Am I wrong?” Haechan questioned. He looked at Mark, “That’s my future boyfriend right there.” He licked his lips and Mark gulped.

“You seem to be very confident of this,” Mark managed to say. Haechan nodded.

“I have to be. First impressions are important. I bet you go home tonight and will dream of me. You will be confused in the morning as to why, you don’t even know me. And then, every shift, you will find excuses to walk around here. Because you want to see if I’m serious or not. And then one day I’ll grow tired of small talk and will ask you out. You’ll say yes.”

“You have it all planned out,” Mark smiled. 

“I dare you to prove me wrong.”

“Kid just started, Haechan,” Jaehyun rolled his eyes. 

“So?”

“Can he at least get settled before you try and marry him?”

Haechan leaned over the counter. “No.”

“Unbelievable,” Jaehyun sighed.

“Come back, Mark,” Haechan chuckled as he went back towards the machine. He grabbed the can and opened it to make sure it had mixed properly. “I’m going to need your number.”

“I’ll think about it,” Mark joked, hoping to sound confident. Haechan turned and looked at him, winking. Jaehyun pulled Mark away.

“Is he like this with everyone?” Mark asked. Jaehyun shook his head.

“Kid has never even had a boyfriend before.”

“How did you know he’d flirt with me?” 

“We weren’t lying when we said we are like a family here. We hang out outside of work. It only takes a game of truth or dare to get to know everyone’s secrets. You fit Haechan’s description of what he likes perfectly.”

“He seemed so confident, though,” Mark pressed.

“And I bet he is on his way to auto care services to freak out about it with his friends. Who you will meet soon.” Jaehyun walked and they found themselves going through doors to reach the garden area. It was quiet, birds sang and flew around, and Mark immediately hoped he could work in this area. “Alright, I have Hendery and Jungwoo here. This is Mark.” Jaehyun had begun to lose some of his energy, or patience rather, which Mark couldn’t blame him for since he found Hendery sleeping while Jungwoo read a magazine.

“Hi Mark!” Jungwoo said excitedly. Hendery didn’t move behind him. “Welcome to Walmart.”

“Thank you,” Mark said honestly. 

“Mmm,” Jungwoo looked at him. “Has Haechan met him yet?”

“He planned our whole future together in five minutes,” Mark responded for Jaehyun. Jungwoo smiled.

“I’ll help with the flowers at the wedding!” Mark blushed. He couldn’t understand why it was such a huge deal. They had just met. He wasn’t even sure what he thought about him.

“Okay, we have a few more areas to go,” Jaehyun announced. Mark waved as they walked away. “Nothing ever happens back here so I can’t blame Hendery for always being asleep. Jungwoo, however, keeps taking plants home.”

“Oh that’s nice!” Mark smiled. Jaehyun shook his head.

“You don’t understand, he’s not paying for them but nobody cares because he hasn’t missed a day of work since he was hired… three years ago. He even volunteers to work Black Friday!” Mark’s eyes widened.

“Ah.” Mark looked down. 

“Okay, let’s head to auto care services real quick. The guys will probably be dancing and singing as they work on cars. You’ll meet Lucas, Xiaojun, Renjun, Chenle, Jisung, Jeno, and Jaemin. Chenle doesn’t usually help them much but they don’t care because he brings them home cooked meals. They all live together with Haechan, except Lucas who will be moving in with them in a few weeks.”

The auto care services area was loud. Some of it was because of some tools being used, but it was mostly the voices of a bunch of guys singing Lady Gaga songs. Mark smiled as they all stopped what they were doing and gathered around to meet him. After introducing themselves, Mark noticed somebody in the back who looked like he was hiding. He tried to control his laughter when he realized it was Haechan who, upon being discovered, tripped on some buckets as he ran away.

“I told you he’d run over here,” Jaehyun whispered. “Okay guys, we have to go!”

They walked inside and when they reached the pharmacy, Mark noticed a man berating the boy behind the counter. Mark wondered if every person who worked in this store was handsome. Because this boy, with his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, with two earrings in each ear, and a lip piercing which went along perfectly with the Japanese dragon tattoo in his left arm looked like he was taken straight out of a runway.

It was probably the way he seriously stared at the man who continued complaining about paying 15 cents for a medication that made Mark wonder if he was even listening to the man. Mark felt shivers down his spine, it was kind of a terrifying sight.

“I won’t bother him now,” Jaehyun said, his tone sounding equally concerned and slightly scared as Mark felt. “But that is Yuta. When we hired him he had so many hopes and dreams… the pharmacy killed them. Well, he’s hanging on by a thread because he’s dating Taeyong from electronics.”

Mark nodded softly, looking away. He could see it; the two looked like the halves of the same beautiful component. He felt a bit plain just thinking about standing next to the couple. He wondered what that adorable boy in paint and home improvement saw in him. Maybe he was joking. That definitely sounded more accurate.

“I know he looks scary,” Jaehyun continued, “but he is one of the kindest and funniest people I’ve ever met. He’s just tired of doctors telling their patients their prescriptions will be ready in 15 minutes for them to pick up.” He began to walk again, Mark behind him. They made it over to customer service where, once again, Mark witnessed a customer berating the boy behind the counter. The boy’s face was red and his eyes were puffy and Mark figured he had been crying. He confirmed it when Jaehyun began speaking. “That one over there is one of our newest hires, Shotaro. If you ever see him and he isn’t crying, he probably gave up. In general. Tell him to go talk to someone. He’ll probably want to talk to Yuta but he’s always so busy, Shotaro tends to walk all the way to find Taeyong. Taeyong actually stops playing his games to listen to Shotaro,” Jaehyun sighed, “if only all customers were Shotaro.”

They turned around and Mark found it strange no registers were open except for the self checkouts. Jaehyun cursed. “If you ever see a guy in the registers that’s Sungchan. Except he’s usually just taking a break, whenever he wants. And we can’t do much about it because he is the only one who will show up if we schedule him to be a cashier.” They walked back to the doors where Mark walked in. “Last but not least, here’s Winwin. He’s the last person for you to meet in the main store. He is our greeter and is also in charge of getting the carts from the parking lot. Except.... Well all he does is take carts and leave them in random places in the parking lot so he can go grab them to kill time. He should be greeting people but he stopped doing so after calling security on a lady with beige leggings. He thought she was naked. She threw a rotisserie chicken at him when she walked out of the store after shopping. He has stopped greeting people since then.”

“Am I supposed to know everyone today?” Mark suddenly blurted out.

“No,” Jaehyun said, “I think it took Shotaro two weeks.”

“Okay,” Mark sighed. 

“Look, I am going to be honest with you. This place is a shitshow,” Jaehyun confessed. There was a twinkle in his eyes and Mark noticed how round his cheeks were when he smiled. It kind of made him feel a bit soft for the other one. “But every single person I am introducing you to makes it so worth it. You’ll get closer to some and might only hang out with others once or twice a month, but they will be the reason you will be able to come up to your shifts every day.”

“They all seem nice,” Mark agreed. Jaehyun laughed and continued walking.

“Ah, this should be fun."


End file.
